Aseem Trivedi (born 17 February 1987) is an Indian

political cartoon A political cartoon, also known as an editorial cartoon, is a cartoon graphic with caricatures of public figures, expressing the artist's opinion. An artist who writes and draws such images is known as an editorial cartoonist. They typically co ...

ist and activist, known for his anti corruption campaign Cartoons Against Corruption. He is a founder member of Save Your Voice, a movement against internet censorship in India. He is the recipient of "Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award 2012" of US based

Cartoonists Rights Network International Cartoonists Rights Network International (CRNI) is a non-profit organisation created in 1999 in the United States by Dr. Robert "Bro" Russell. It looks to protect the human rights and creative freedom of social and editorial cartoonists. CRNI "en ...

Early life

Aseem Trivedi was born on 17 February 1987 in Shuklaganj at Unnao district of

Uttar Pradesh Uttar Pradesh ( ; UP) is a States and union territories of India, state in North India, northern India. With over 241 million inhabitants, it is the List of states and union territories of India by population, most populated state in In ...

State in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

. He studied in Saraswati Vidya Mandir until 12th standard. He started his career as a freelance cartoonist and worked for several

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

language newspapers and magazines.

Cartoons against corruption

In 2011, a nationwide anti corruption movement India Against Corruption gathered pace in India. Aseem Trivedi started a cartoon based campaign, Cartoons Against Corruption to support the movement. He launched a website www.cartoonsagainstcorruption.com and displayed his cartoons in the MMRDA ground,

Mumbai Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial capital and the most populous city proper of India with an estimated population of 12 ...

during the hunger strike of Anna Hazare.

Ban on the website

The website was banned by Mumbai Crime Branch for displaying "defamatory and derogatory cartoons" in Dec, 2011. Following his website's ban, he uploaded his cartoons to a new blog.

Fight against internet censorship

After the ban on his website, Aseem Trivedi along with his friend Alok Dixit started Save Your Voice, a campaign for internet freedom. Through the creative protests in several cities, Save Your Voice, initiated a debate over internet freedom in India. The campaign was targeted at the draconian rules framed under the

Information Technology Act, 2000 The Information Technology Act, 2000 (also known as ITA-2000, or the IT Act) is an Act of the Indian Parliament (No 21 of 2000) notified on 17 October 2000. It is the primary law in India dealing with cybercrime and electronic commerce. Secon ...

Hunger Strike

Aseem Trivedi went on an indefinite hunger strike for internet freedom at Jantar Mantar in May 2012, New Delhi. The motive of the hunger strike was to request political parties to support the annulment motion against the Intermediary Guideline Rules of the Information Technology Act 2011 of India.

Charges and allegations

One of Trivedi's cartoons showed the four lions that form Ashoka Chakra, India's national symbol, replaced by four wolves and the national slogan "truth shall prevail" replaced by "corruption shall prevail." Another cartoon showed Parliament as the "national toilet". He sketched a woman as "Mother India" being assaulted by a politician and a bureaucrat. A caption above this cartoon reads "gang rape of Mother India". He faced serious allegations of insulting national emblem, Parliament, flag and constitution through his cartoons. He was charged with sedition IPC 124A, Section 66A of IT act and National Emblem Act 1971 . The case against him was filed in a Mumbai court by a lawyer, who said the pictures mocked national symbols. Trivedi was also charged with posting seditious and obscene content on his website.

Jail

He was arrested in Mumbai on 9 September 2012 on charges of sedition, related to the content of his work. He was granted bail with a personal bond of Rs. 5000 on the basis of an independent petition by a lawyer, who also asked the court to remove the accusations of sedition. Sedition charges were dropped by the government in October 2012. Section 66A of IT Act was scrapped by Supreme Court of India in March 2015.

Awards

He has been announced as the 2012 recipient of the "Courage in Editorial Cartooning Award" of

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

based

. He is sharing the award with Syrian cartoonist Ali Ferzat. Indian Affairs founded b
Satya Brahma
in its 6th Annual India Leadership Conclave 2015 awarded Trivedi as "Cartoonist of the year 2015". He was also nominated for the Freedom of Expression Awards 2013 in Arts category by UK based group

Index on Censorship Index on Censorship is an organisation campaigning for freedom of expression. It produces a quarterly magazine of the same name from London. It is directed by the non-profit-making Writers and Scholars International, Ltd (WSI) in association wit ...

Reality television

;As contestant

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Trivedi, Aseem Living people Indian editorial cartoonists 1987 births Indian anti-corruption activists People from Kanpur Activists from Uttar Pradesh Writers from Uttarakhand 21st-century Indian non-fiction writers